The Fogman's Coat
by C.J Darley
Summary: One evening, Henry is working late with Edward, and an owl hoots. Edward warns Henry that when the owl hoots, a mist will roll in soon, along with a ghost.


_**The Fogman's**_**_ Coat._**

It was a moonlit night and Henry was working with Edward, the big green engine was taking building materials to a station by a lake.

The reportedly haunted old village of echo and the branch line that surrounded it were being rebuilt, there were all kinds of conspiracy theories around why it was abandoned, all of which Henry dismissed as childish ghost stories.

'Whenever that owl hoots a mist rolls in.' murmured Edward.

'There's a legend that when the mist's about there's a ghost about too. Take care on that old line Henry'.

'Stupid bird' said Henry and with that he set off into the night.

'owls. . Edward's gone soft in his old age. There's no mist.

But Henry was wrong.

On the approach to the near abandoned mining village of Echo that served the old branch line there was a forest. It was still recovering from a fire that was thought to be triggered around 50 years ago by Lawrence white the owner of a local copper mine and a quarry both of which employed most of the village, the mine had gone bust so he took a walk in the forest with a cigarette. When he'd finished with it he dropped it on the forest floor which combined with the dry ground was enough to start a horrific forest fire. He started to walk away but he couldn't bare the thought of making nearly an entire village unemployed. So he walked towards the fire and drank a bottle of whiskey, then lay down on the floor and waited for the fire to do its thing.

Legend has it that on a foggy night you can hear his screams as he slowly burnt to death.

After the fire most of the villagers left Echo to find other work but a few stayed in the hope things would get mine was closed after white's death but the branch line and quarry struggled on for 20 long and ruinous years until it was decided at a town meeting that those who remained would leave echo as quickly as possible. Few have been there since apart from the odd resident who wanted to see what their village had become.

Henry didn't know if the Lawrence White story was true or if it was one of Edward's famous ghost stories but either way he didn't like the forest. It wasn't the sort of forest he was familiar with most of the trees were so badly burnt in the fire they were chopped down and the ones that were once deemed safe were now so badly rotten they looked like they could fall onto the line at any moment . It wasn't too bad on his daytime runs but at night the forest was extremely scary. Even Edward thought so.

At night Henry tried to look at anything other than the trees but one caught his eye. It looked like it had some sort of lamp attached to it.

'What's that? 'Exclaimed Henry.

The driver stopped the train and climbed down from the cab to examine the tree

'It's an amber lamp.' Murmured his driver.

'That means proceed with caution'

'I never noticed that before, someone must have put it there recently but there are no people in echo now apart from the workmen who've set up camp in the houses that haven't fallen in on themselves yet'

'Who's there?' no one replied.

Henry crept slowly forward. He stopped by a tree, it had a sign nailed to it **'beware of the viaduct'**

Henry's driver was surprised 'no one told us about this before and look the signals red and the gates are closed'

'Ah-ah-ah and there's a fogmans coat. But where's its owner?

Then they saw a light move within an old station building.

'GHOST'S!' exclaimed Henry 'Edward was right!

'This is creepy; I think its best we go back and report this' said his driver.

'So do I!' agreed Henry.

By morning the fog had cleared. Gordon and Henry were talking about the unsafe viaduct

'Driver told me that viaduct is on the verge of collapsing. It would have been safe enough for Thomas but for a heavy engine like you it would have been disastrous, you're lucky you didn't get to cross it last night' said Gordon who was unusually sympathetic.

'Yes but we don't know who warned us. That branch line has been closed for years it's in the middle of nowhere and is surrounded by a village that's been all but abandoned since the mine's and factories closed down. So how would anyone know about that viaduct being unsafe?' asked Henry

'I don't know Henry' replied Gordon 'maybe a workman discovered it or something'

Henry was about to make a counter argument when his driver arrived.

'The viaduct has been made safe enough for Thomas to cross it with our train, well meet with Thomas at echo station but we'll still have to go through that creepy forest tonight.

Henry really didn't want to and by the tone of his voice his driver wasn't keen either.

'Take care Henry' said Gordon, who was visibly worried about Henry.

But when nightfall came Henry and his driver had both relaxed a little.

Henry had insisted on pushing the train from behind, his driver wasn't sure why but he went along with it anyway.

They were waiting to be waved off by the guard when an owl hooted and then Gordon thundered by with a late night express.

'Oh look Henry's spooked!' said a truck and the others giggled in a silly way.

'BE QUIET!' Snapped Henry 'I'm not scared!' but he was.

A little later the fog came down, as they approached the same area they saw the amber light again.

'Here we go' said Henry's driver.

Then unbeknown to Henry the gates mysteriously closed by themselves and the signal went red.

The trucks had seen all and they were spooked too.

'Faster faster there's a ghost about!'

'STOP! STOP!' yelled Henry.

The heavy train careered through the gates and a mysterious figure watched them go by. Ahead there was a fallen tree blocking the line. Henry braked hard but the trucks hit the tree and plunged into the ravine.

Just then the driver saw a strange site coming towards them. it was Thomas carrying a very cross looking passenger.

'Who's that? 'Asked Henry

The fireman laughed

'That's our ghost it's Cyril the fogman.'

Cyril was very cross.

'I tried to warn you about that viaduct why didn't you pay attention?'

'it isn't strong enough for a heavy engine like you it just about managed to take my weight when we tested it, believe me i wasn't happy about that. the viaduct would have snapped like a twig if you'd tried to cross it that's why we put one of the trees from the forest on the line to stop you from getting too close'.

'We didn't have the tree in place last night' explained Cyril

'If you hadn't decided to turn back we'd have had a major tragedy on our hands'

'I'm sorry we ignored your warnings guys '. Replied Henry

'Is there anything we can do to thank you?

'I'd like to operate Echo station again. If you'll let me. I promise I won't spook Henry.'

A year later the branch line was ready to be reopened and Cyril's wish was granted.

'You and your station will be very useful. Let's hear a hearty thank you to the friendliest er... Ghost on the island.

Everyone cheered including Henry and Thomas who were the happiest of all.


End file.
